United Belka
by Acetanker29
Summary: What if Cipher had fought for the Belkans? What if Belka had remained victorious in the Belkan war? The fight for United Belka is on!
1. Chapter 1

**A:N: Not too much to say here, really. Just a bit of a random idea I had. Feel free to leave a review if you want to, but if you don't want to, that's fine too. Oh, and I do not own Ace Combat.**

Dreary, that's what the pilot thought about the place as he looked outside at the blinding snowstorm. He could just make out the line of Belkan bombers and escorts, which looked more or less of a ragtag group of planes rather then the proud air force that Belka had been putting out on the front lines. _But then again, this is Ustio's last air base, if it falls, the nation is done._ He knew this by heart, and was grateful for the opportunity to serve his home country, and to prove himself worthy of being a fighter pilot.

"All call signs, report in," the commander bellowed, sounding rather upset. Cipher couldn't blame him really, given his mission objective and the jets he had to work with.

"Drake 1-4 ready."

"Bear 1-13 ready"

"Mustang 1 & 2 ready"

"Cipher, ready," Cipher retorted, still upset about his lighting fast deployment. He'd just completed training and hadn't yet been assigned a squadron.

"Alright, I know the enemy has hired some mercenaries, so stay alert. They might be worse than dogs, but if they fight well, then your out dispute of their level or lack their of regarding honor." He replied. Cipher glanced around, noticing two enemy jets heading toward them on his radar.

"Cipher, engaging," He announced calmly, and went to meet the enemy head on. As he got closer, he identified one of the jets having a red wing on it. "Huh, I wonder what that is about," He muttered, before dropping below, letting the two planes pass.

"This is Pixy, Engaging enemy. PJ, keep the enemy off me." Cipher frowned, confused. _What kind of names are those?_ He thought, turning a sharp turn to avoid being missile locked by the F-16 the enemy wingman was flying. Keeping his head calm, he noted the F-15 moving in on a bomber. "Oh no you don't," He barked, pulling a extraordinary maneuver which brought him in shooting range. He opened fire, his guns baring on the enemy jet, tearing it to shreds.

"Pixy here, I've been wounded and my plane's messed up, ejecting." For Cipher, he found himself disappointed by the news. Yes, it was his first kill, but he didn't feel comfortable with the fact he'd caused the man pain. _Please let him be okay,_ He thought, pulling his plane up as the F-16 lined up.

"Your gonna pay for shooting my friend down," The enemy pilot screeched, following the F-5. Cipher chuckled nervously, before flipping his plane over and flattening himself out. Waiting until he heard the warning alarm, he ducked down a little, using his air-brake to let the F-16 overshoot. Smiling a bit, he yet again lined up his enemy, this time arming one of his QAAM Missiles. Taking a breath, he fired the missle, keeping the foe well within the target reticle as he waited for the missile to hit.

He shut his eyes as he herd the sound of the missile, wincing a bit. When he dared to open one of his eyes, he say that the enemy had been neutralized. "This is PJ, my plane has been damaged, unable to continue duties." He announced, sounding upset. Cipher followed him a bit, then let off the chase when he was sure the Ustio mercenary was ejecting from the plane. _Two kills, not bad for a rookie,_ He thought as he heard the commanders voice over the radio.

"Good work pilots, mission complete, return to base."

Cipher let out a sigh of relief as he quickly checked his radar and surroundings. _Good, the enemy isn't trying any last ditch attacks, and we can head home safely,_ He realized. Turning his plane toward Belka, we sped toward the designated airbase, located just beyond B7R.

The return flight took about an hour, and he was content to fly quietly back, but his fellow pilots where not. Congratulations and tales of engagements where flying through the radios. Cipher gave out some complements on the job well done, but didn't really want to report the white plane with the red wing. For some reason, he didn't feel like bragging about the pilot he'd shot down.

History wasn't content to let this fact go, however. "By the way Cipher, good job taking down Solo Wing." The constant banter that had been so strong over the radio suddenly stopped. Dead silence followed at this revelation.

"Solo Wing?" Cipher asked, confused. "Wait, do you mean the guy in the white F-15 and red wing?" He added quickly."

"Yeah, he's a legend around the mercenary forces, even survived having his wing shot off." The commander explained, adding, "Guess what they say about us Belkans, is true after all."

Cipher blushed a bit, just now realizing who he'd shot down. "I never realized who I was shooting down, all I knew was that he was going after that bomber and I couldn't let him destroy it." He admitted sheepishly.

"Well, whatever the case, you've made a bit of a name for yourself today. Don't be surprised if the Base commander has something more for you to do." The commander replied. After this, the usual chatter resumed, but with the occasional remark about Solo wing going down to a rookie.

Turns out his words where right. As soon as he landed on the base, the Base commander walked up to him. "What plane you'd like, the F-16, Mirage 2000, or A-10?" The head-shot asked.

"F-16." Cipher replied. The base then commander motioned to an F-16. "She's yours, feel free to customize her paint, too." He stated. "You've got a flight to Sapin in a week, though, so make it quick." He then returned to his headquarters.

Cipher let the hanger guides take over the remaining drive to the hanger and walked up to the F-16. "Well buddy, let's just win this war and make it back in one piece, alright?" He asked, chuckling as he figured the F-16 would have agreed if it had any kind of real intelligent soul in it.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Ace Combat. And I deeply apologize for the late update. I'm working on quiet a few fanfictions in addition to this one. (Although most of them I won't be publishing until they are actually complete.) There is also a lot of other things in life taking up my time.**

"Rot 1 to all craft, Let's take out this manufacturing facility and head home."

Cipher shook his head. The leader of the Rot Squadron, Detlef Fleisher, always be uptight, and his current grumpy demeanor wasn't helping that. "This is Cipher, Rodger that, will begin bomb run as soon as target is in sight." He reported.

"Hmp. Whatever, your not even an ace yet, so I can't believe they sent you to bomb this building," Detlef replied. "Even if you did shoot down this, Solo Wing." He added sarcastically.

"Solo Wing aside, command sent me on this mission, so there isn't too much I can do about it." Cipher deadpanned.

"Oh, so now your too good to bomb something aren't you," Detlef retorted.

"Nope, bombing is one of my favorite missions." Cipher mused, before adding, "At least I'm not whining about this mission."

"I'm not winning!" He shot back.

"Yes you are!" The rest of Rot team shot back.

"Ugh! I can't believe you three are taking the newbie's side." Detlef muttered, before sighing. "Let's just get this done and return home safely."

Suddenly, Cipher noticed enemy blips on his radar. "Tally ho, enemy planes incoming."

"This is just great. Cipher, evade, I'll cover you!" Detlef barked out. "Jurgen, Helmut, Karl, engage those enemy fighters!"

"Cipher, evading!"

Rot 2, Engaging!

Rot 3, Engaging!

Rot 4, Engaging!

Cipher pulled up just as a missile went straight toward him. He released his flairs, and turned to engage, noticing that Rot 1 had ended up in a battle of his own. _Looks like it's up to me to save my own bacon._ He quickly found himself behind the enemy plain and fired one of his Missiles. "Yes! Target hit, enemy plane disabled!" He exclaimed, letting the enemy plane go seeing as it was missing it's right wing and trailing smoke.

Detlef flew in beside him. "Sorry about that, got caught up in a fight of my own." He replied bashfully, before adding, "But anyways, that was an excellent kill, Cipher, good work."

"Thanks," Cipher replied, before dipping down, releasing his his two bombs directly on the target. "And I believe that is a wrap." He added happily.

"Mission control to Rot squadron, mission complete, but we have a new mission for you. And bring Cipher, we're going to the Futuro canal."

"Alright, I wonder what is going on here,?" Detlef questioned. Cipher just shrugged and turned back to the nearest Belkan base, with the rest of the Rot Squadron following him.

As they landed, they noticed that various anti-air ordnance was being brought out to them. The base commander quickly explained how they where going to clear out the Allied forces aircraft from the Futuro canal to make way for a bombing run on the aircraft carrier Kestrel.

A quick change in special weapons as well as a refill on the standard missile count, the five jets headed out, determination in their eyes.

"Mustang squadron here, where out of ammo and must withdraw. Mustang three's plane has been hit hard." Cipher let out a small gasp as he herd the call signs of the squadron he worked with during his first mission.

"Rot 1 to Mustang, we and Cipher are heading into the battle, head back to base and resupply. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Mustang 1 to Rot, thank goodness you have come. Well refuel and return as soon as possible." Cipher watched the three F-5 jets pass by, noticing that Mustang three's left engine was non operational. _I really hope they don't seen you back into battle with that left engine turbine like that,_ Cipher thought to himself.

"Bering Twelve F-4's and eight F-14's," Detlef reported, before letting out a sigh. "We are outnumbered."

"Drake Squadron here, rearing to go with a full payload of anti-air ordinance!" Cipher smiled.

"Maybe so Detlef, but we must try." He replied before turning his attention to the Drake Squadron. "Thanks for coming Drake, we are going to need all the help we can get."

"Drake 1, Rodger that, engaging enemy forces.

Cipher nodded, reported that he was engaging and headed directly toward one of the F-14's. "I'm going to take you down!" He shouted, before achieving a firm missile lock. "Cipher launching missile!" He exclaimed, letting the enemy jet have it.

"Nice shot Cipher!" Drake three complimented, before he took down a F-4 Phantom.

"Thanks Drake three, your pretty good yourself.

Cipher then noticed another Phantom approaching the allied plane. "Evade Drake three, I'll taking him out." Drake three quickly did an S-split, while Cipher quickly fired another missile, hitting the Phantom.

"Thanks Cipher, if we make it back alive, drinks are on me," Drake three promised.

"No problem," Cipher acknowledged with a smile. "But you forget that I don't drink."

"Oh that's right!, Well how about dinner?" Drake three asked.

"Sounds good, but let's just focus on the mission." Cipher replied, before noticing the Belkan bombers up ahead. "Or, let's just get out of the way," He added quickly and the two jets joined up with their respective squadrons.

Detlef gave Cipher a thumbs up. "You did good today, shooting down three enemy planes across two missions in one day."

"Thanks Detlef," Cipher replied, grinning. However,as he quietly reflected on today's events there was one thing that came to his mind:

 _This was is far from over._


End file.
